NOT YOURS: Peter Obi’s petition unsettles Tinubu, fears he may return the certificate he ‘wrongfully’ received from INEC

The decision of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, to head to the Court to seek redress following the controversial outcome of the February 25th presidential election, may have unsettled the APC who had expected a repeat of the 2019 court case between Buhari and Atiku, where despite overwhelming evidence, rulings were made to ensure Buhari is still what we have today as president.

Knowing fully well how things work under the APC government since coming to power in 2015, and many questionable court rulings under the current government, Obi who served as Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election, probably expects nothing different, which may have helped him plan ahead, should the ruling party decide to rig and send him back to the courts once again.

Following the filing of the petition by the Labour Party candidate yesterday, it became clear what Peter Obi meant when he said during an appearance on Arise TV, that his focus would be more on the process rather than the outcome which produced Tinubu as the winner of the last election.

Analysts who studied the petition filed by Obi, hailed his approach, believing he must have learnt his lessons from his last outing with Atiku in their 2019 court case under the PDP. 

Meanwhile, the ruling party who had expected the Labour Party’s candidate to focus on the election outcome, much like what Atiku did back in 2019, were reportedly caught by surprise, and thrown into panic as they seek to work out solutions to defend the ‘stolen mandate’. 

The panic could be seen in the responses of those who went from “go to court”, to “going to court is a waste of time” and asking Obi to instead, accept the outcome of the election and allow the country to heal. 

One such individuals calling on Obi to accept the outcome of the election, is a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, who said that the election has come and gone, and that changing the outcome would be impossible.

He said, “I’m not desperate for an appointment. I have been governor twice. I’m contented, but for anybody to say he will unseat Ahmed Bola Tinubu, you are daydreaming.

“It’s a nightmare you are putting yourself through. That election has come and gone.”

And then there is Bayo Onanuga, a media aide to president-elect, Bola Tinubu, and who fuelled the attacks against Igbos living in Lagos during last Saturday’s governorship election.

Onanuga who was among those telling Peter Obi to go to court, has all of a sudden, now seem feverish, and claimed that Obi’s move to challenge the 2023 presidential election results is similar to how the 1993 election of MKO Abiola was invalidated by IBB.